


you'll keep me intact

by withmyeyesclosed



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Post 7x06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25414768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withmyeyesclosed/pseuds/withmyeyesclosed
Summary: Daisy isn’t used to being the one who needs protection. Or maybe she is. Simmons mentioned offhand that she’d been through worse. How many times, Daniel wonders, had she built herself back up, only to get knocked down again?or:Daisy recovers, and Daniel reflects.
Relationships: Skye | Daisy Johnson & Daniel Sousa, Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 2
Kudos: 193





	you'll keep me intact

**Author's Note:**

> has everyone and their mother has already written a sousy hurt/comfort fic?
> 
> yes.
> 
> am i jumping on the bandwagon and writing one anyway?
> 
> yes.

Something about being up in the middle of the night always calms Daniel down. It’s the dark, the quiet, the fact that he’s awake when no one else is. Plus, he feels uneasy leaving Daisy alone in the healing pod. May, Simmons, and Yo-Yo (he still can’t figure out why they call her that) have popped in and out, but they all have important roles in the team, and everything seems to be a disaster at the moment. Daniel hasn’t quite figured out where he fits in, but he’s decided that watching over Daisy is as good a job as any for now. _I’m where I need to be._ That’s what he had said when Simmons asked if he wanted to leave. He believed it then, and he sure as hell believes it now.

She’s woken up a couple times, but remnants of Malick’s drug and the painkillers Simmons gave her left her pretty disoriented. She’s sleeping now, and Daniel’s decided to go get something to eat, when a muffled crash from down the hall shakes him out of his thoughts. He tilts his head slightly in confusion, before realizing that the sound came from somewhere near the healing pod. 

Daisy Johnson is sitting on the floor, gripping at the smooth surface of the wall, trying to push herself up. She must have fallen. She glimpses Daniel as he rounds the corner and her eyes widen.

“Sousa,” she gasps. “What’s going on? Where-”

“Hey, take it easy,” Daniel closes the space between them and lifts her back into a standing position. “You’re safe. It’s okay.”

She looks around, as if only realizing her surroundings just now. “We’re back on the Zephyr?”

He nods, noticing the way Daisy’s eyes dart back and forth frantically, how she still isn’t sure the danger’s gone. He places a hand on her arm, steadying her. “Simmons is a miracle worker. She put you in that healing pod thing. It’s incredible, really, how much technology has advanced.”

“It freaked me out a little,” Daisy explains as her breathing evens out. “I woke up and I didn’t know what was happening, so I came out here and I just got a little dizzy.”

“I get it,” Daniel says. “You should get back to the healing pod, you need to rest.”

She shakes her head. "I can't... I think I’m just gonna go sit down somewhere.”

He nods in understanding. Daisy is stubborn, there's no use arguing. Instead, he walks with her, catching her when she pitches forward after a few shaky steps. "Okay, that settles that," he says, lifting one of her arms around his shoulder. 

“I’m fine,” Daisy insists, though she doesn’t put up a fight when Daniel wraps an arm around her waist.

Not too long ago (well it had been decades, but it didn’t feel like that), a certain Peggy Carter had popped her stitches after being impaled and immediately tried to go out into the field. He smiled at the memory and wondered why he kept ending up around powerful women who refused to admit when they needed help. The two of them would get along, Daniel decided, if they ever met. Might even take over the world together.

“You know, no one expects you to be 100% okay right now,” Daniel points out. “It takes time.”

“I know,” Daisy mumbles. “It’s just, I hate feeling this vulnerable.”

“I get it.” And he does. After he lost his leg, all he wanted to do was get up and help, do anything but lay there useless. Daisy isn’t used to being the one who needs protection. Or maybe she is. Simmons mentioned offhand that she’d been through worse. How many times, Daniel wonders, had she built herself back up, only to get knocked down again? 

Daisy stumbles again, and Daniel decides that the kitchen is the way to go. After all, she probably hasn’t eaten in over a day. She practically collapses on the small couch and Daniel grabs a glass of water for her. 

“I don’t remember much from the barn,” Daisy says, “I was pretty out of it. But, um, I remember that you saved me. I never thanked you.”

“No need.” Daniel gives her a half-smile. Back in the barn was the first time that he had ever felt worried for Daisy. He liked the team, he thought they were great agents and good people, but until then, he hadn’t cared about any of them like he cared about his friends and family from the 50’s. Sitting there, watching Daisy hurt and barely conscious, he was scared that he’d lose her, even though he barely knew her yet. If Daniel had been scared, he can’t imagine how _terrified_ she must have been, how terrified she still is. 

“Did they do anything to you?” she asks.

He shakes his head. “Didn’t get the chance. The piece of glass came in handy. That was insane, by the way.”

Daisy smiles for the first time in a while and runs her thumb over the bandage on her palm. “And um, did Malick do it? Can he quake now? Or was that something my head made up?”

Daniel sighs. “He did it. Brought the roof down on himself, actually. But it looked like it really hurt him.”

“Yeah, that happened to me at first, too.” 

He looks at her in what might be surprise, or shock, or just awe at how strong this girl is. “You mentioned someone named Jiaying.” 

Her smile is gone, and he regrets saying anything, but she clears her throat and looks up at him with tired eyes. “She was my mother. Is, I guess. She’s alive right now, but not in my time.” Daniel can sense there’s more to that story, but doesn’t pry. She’ll tell him if she wants. “I didn’t meet her or my dad until I got my powers. She’s inhuman, too. Basically, she ages really slowly. And some HYDRA asshole named Daniel Whitehall did to her what Malick did to me.”

“Wow,” is all Daniel can say. “You know, every time I think I’ve heard it all…”

“If you think that’s a lot, just wait until I tell you about the Framework.”  
  


“The what?”

“Never mind,” she says. Leave it to Daisy to smile and make jokes not 24 hours after being kidnapped and tortured. Daniel makes a mental note to never get on her bad side. She sighs. “Jiaying did a lot of bad things. Like, really terrible. But when they were… when I was on that table, I understood her more than I ever have. I even started to forgive her, just a little bit.”

Daniel doesn’t know what to say to that, so he pulls Daisy closer, a silent _I’m here_ in case she needs it. 

“I know that I am so much more than my powers.” Her eyes start to water. “But he treated me like an object, like that’s all I’m good for. I’m fucking furious, and I’m so afraid that it’s gonna destroy something. Literally.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Daniel tells her softly. “Everything will be okay.” She leans into him, and he feels a tear drop onto his shoulder. A small sob escapes her, and he feels a surge of anger at all the people in her life that have ever hurt her. 

“I’m sorry,” Daisy whispers. 

“Never apologize for being in pain, Daisy,” he says. 

She nods and sobs into his chest. He holds her and he won’t let go until he knows she’s okay. He knows that after tonight, they probably won’t talk about this, and she’ll build up her defenses again. He doesn’t really mind, though. 

He is overcome with the desire to stay by her side. He is her shoulder to cry on, and he will be here when she needs him.

He is where he needs to be.

**Author's Note:**

> honestly, i don't know if i ship these two (they might just be my new brotp), but i love their dynamic and i want so much more of it.
> 
> anyway, stan daniel sousa


End file.
